F.B.I. INVESTIGATES STATE DEPT. LEAKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300340076-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 8, 2001
• Sequence Number: 76
• Publication Date: September 3, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

Z~YI YORK Tit."'ES
Approved For Release 2001/6316 .:idiA-RDP80-016.0
@~>e'&L .1{ 1`.6!.12 ~yy~~' . tw
The State Department has tsl
Arje It tuostiwi PerSCti net
-Use of E~i [;etec;ors
ere was evidence of Viola Li tlkith th Sit
-onsas weove tions of the Federal security Union.
laws, and that the current Others were asked about an
questioning had extended to! earlier article by Tad Swig in
The Other departments, including the' , New York Times about
arrn shpinients to Pakistan.
Pentagon. The Federal Bureau, Mr. McCloskey said, "To the;
of Investigation is an agency' best. of illy knowledd ge., no dis-
of the Justice Department. ciplinary action has been taken
The questioning by against any person ques
and the reported use of lie- tioned," Asked if a reprimand
detectors has touched sensitive" or notation placed in a Foreign,
nerves in the State Depart- Service officer's record was a
ment, where, officials say, the' disciplinary action, he said
bureau has not been active that such a reprimand would
since it investigated charges . not necessarily be considered
of Communist infiltration a disciplinary action
A, If UP 1 10 10 '01 il~ -1110
oil Officials i' Oportr'tt
posed to investigate security
Icaks.
In recent weeks newsmen
who report on the State De-
partment have found that peo-
ple there would not see them or
answer their telephone calls.
Today, at his regular noon
briefing, Mr. McCloskey was
aslced a series of questions
about the investigation and
other official actions that have
apparently prompted' officials
to close their doors to the
press.
? Taboos Conceded
I 5r FRED P. fiRAH PA
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 that certain subjects had been
State Department temporarily placed off limits
personnel 010 for discussion with the press
being questioned by agents of by State Department personnel.;
the Federal Bureau of Investi- These include President Nixon's'
gation in an effort to determine coming trip to China and the,
how recent Sensitive informI s.- one-nian election campaign Oft.
South ? Vietnam's President
lion leaked to the press, the N, uyert Van Thieu.
department's press spokesman But. Mr. McCloskey insisted,
disclosed today. "I have told them that people
/ i.he spokesman,- Robert J. need not close doors or refuse
~! IvlcClaskey, said in response to to return phone calls because
a subject for a period may be
reporter's' questions at a press' off limits for general distribu-
briefing, that the investigation tion." lie said there had been
had been prompted by concer,i no efforts to limit "contacts"
that "stories harmful to the. na- between State Department per-
.1 interest" were beit~ dis- sonrtand the press, but only
n to persuade officials to "use
closed by unauthorized persons, their common sense in dealing
He repeatedly declir}ed to With the journalists." --
make a denial when asked "The State Department has a
about reports that F.B.I. agents deep concern, and I would ex-
pest the public in general would
were giving State Department understand, that information
lofficials lie-detector tests in that could be prejudicial to the
'efforts to locate the sources of national interest in foreign pol-
the news leaks, icy is not to be published or
broadcast," Mr. McCloskey
Mr. McCloskey said the F.B.I. said. .
questioning was ? being done Tinies Article Mentioned
`.`with the approval of the Sec- Ile said that F.B.I. agents had
'rotary of 'State," but he de- approached State Department
elided to. say who had ordered officials "on a number of oc-
it. 'Powell Moore, all official in casions," but he would not say
the Justice Department's infoa?- 'what new articles had been
involved.
mation office, said that the in- Sonic inclividudis who were.
jtiestigation had been ordered questioned said that the agents
by that 'department's Internal asked about an article by Wil-
Security Division, liana Beecher in The New York
Mr. Moore said that such, Times of July 22, giving details
of United States negotiators,
action was taken whenever positions in the arms limita-
th
A prover a W c; r r e ' 0.80-01601 R0003003
davits saying, whether they had
talked to certain reporters.
STATINTL
40076-2
 .IQs ANGPLES TIMES
Approved For Release 2O%1147 1 CIA-Rl 8bTd1141 R
i!] te'iicl that wa.s, pub-
la.h~Cl,
The. investigation of this
al'ticle, however, appears
to be. the broadest and
deepest. of its kind in at
least a decade. The Kenne-
dy and Johnson adniiliis-
t.i' iion.s both sought the
source of news leaps from
time to tinge but never in
as sListained or exhaustive
fashionas that begun after
the July 23 story on the
arms. talks. .
Use of the polygraph, if
true. may be a precedent,
although Y there ,were Un-
confirmed reports of the
eletector's Use during the
1 ,' i senhower administra-
tii7n. The four officials
subjected to ?t.he Not, the
A reported, had all ac-
kncw